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Derrick Webster won a unanimous decision over Sabou Ballogou in his last fight, which was also at Resorts Casino.

By John Archibald, Resolution Sports/Team Webster

Undefeated Super Middleweight to Fight at Resorts in Atlantic City

Undefeated super middleweight Derrick “Take it to the Bank” Webster (13-0, 7 KOs) will look for his 14th professional victory later this month, returning to the ring on July 27th at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City as part of an ESPN Friday Night Fights card. Fresh off a trip to Las Vegas where he joined trainer Freddie Roach and the camp of WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., Webster reflected on the past few months of his life as he waits to hear who he will face in his next bout.

“The past few months have been interesting and educational,” Webster remarked. “I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. It has given me a lot more fire and has made me want to train a whole lot harder. I’m a person who has always had a lot of will, but this has given me even more will to want to win more excitingly.”

Webster is always very careful to deal with training one day at a time and focus on nothing but his next fight. Having such a concentrated demeanor is something that has helped him reach the success that he has through 13 professional fights, and he hopes that it will give him continued prosperity in the future.

“A lot of fighters don’t make it to 10-0, 12-0, and here I am fighting for my 14th victory,” he stated. “At this particular point in time, I’m doing a lot more strength and conditioning. I’m staying on top of my running and really focusing on my eating habits. Next time I get in the ring, I want to be a different Derrick Webster. I like to be a crowd pleaser who brings a lot of excitement. And now after I’ve been around elite fighters like Roy Jones, Jr., and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., I’ve learned that if you execute properly in the ring, that’s crowd pleasing enough. I just want to put a lot more focus and emphasis on who I am as I go into my teen fights, let these guys know I belong here and that it’s going to take a lot for them to beat me.”

Something that has been a regular occurrence throughout the career of Webster is not getting much time to train for specific opponents. Dates are booked weeks and often months before he knows who he will be fighting, and various challengers are brought to the table before someone signs the deal to scrap.

“I’ve grown accustomed to not knowing who I’m fighting,” he confirmed. “From my third pro fight to now, I’ve never really known who I’m fighting. You get guys who accept the fight and then back off and you get guys who turn me down from the door, so I never really know exactly who I’m fighting once I have my date set. My trainer, Denny Brown, tells me that if I just am who I am supposed to be in that ring, it doesn’t matter who I’m fighting. We train for the pressure, we train for the boxers, we train for awkwardness, and we train for the long haul. Denny’s main goal is to always get these guys out of there as quickly as possible, but we also train for the rounds. We try to train where we don’t have to worry about being touched too much. Overall, it’s not really a frustration to me anymore. I remember a time when I used to get frustrated, but now that I’m starting to understand who I am, I wouldn’t want to fight me either.”

A lot of fighters who make it to a pinnacle like 13-0 tend to let it get to their heads, but Webster is one boxer who has always maintained an incredible amount of humility. Through a lifetime of hardships and darkness, he is one who has always been able to find the positive light in it all, and he says that enables him to remain humble.

“My struggles in life are what keep me grounded,” he said. “I also don’t like arrogant people. To me, it’s just ignorance. A lot of people choose different paths, and you have a lot of good guys who make the wrong mistakes. I just see myself as cleaning up my own mess, I’ll put it like that. There was a point in time that I was a mess and involved in a bunch of nonsense. I know where I could be. Above all, I’m just glad to be alive and to have lived through it all. What keeps me humble is knowing the pain I used to go through when I was growing up with so little. I want to be able to provide more for myself as well as my fiancée and children. I want to make sure that no matter what type of success I may achieve, I remain a people person. When people speak about me, I want them to do it with a smile. There’s always going to be people who hate you and not want to reach success, but I don’t ever want it to be because of some wrongdoing that I did.”

And as for his upcoming bout, Webster forecasts an entertaining night for all of the fight fans in attendance.

“On the 27th, expect explosiveness, great defense, great discipline and another ‘Take it to the Bank’ victory,” he concluded.

FIGHT INFO:For tickets to the July 27th card, call Team Webster at (609) 871-0979. Any media member who would like to arrange an interview with Derrick Webster, please email media@ResSports.com, and we happily fulfill that request.